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Tag: Climate Change

MCC has long applied rigorous environmental safeguards and standards to its investments in partner countries. And since President Obama’s September 2014 Executive Order on Climate-Resilient International Development, MCC (along with other key USG foreign assistance agencies) has been expanding its efforts to ensure that it considers climate change risk—and, where possible, mechanisms for adaptation—in investment planning and execution

India just did something big for the climate: it announced that it will allocate $6 billion a year in tax revenue in a way that will encourage forest conservation. That’s more results-based finance for forest conservation than any other country in the world, including the current biggest spender Norway.

The Senate voted today (Thursday) to move ahead with legislation to build the controversial Keystone XL pipeline, which would transport millions of barrels of dirty tar sands oil from Canada to the US Gulf Coast, mostly to be refined and exported to other countries (legislation destined for the Presidential veto). Strange, then, that last week the Senate voted 98-1 to approve a resolution stating that “climate change is real and not a hoax.”

When President Obama goes to India to help celebrate Republic Day, he will have two priorities: to further open India’s market to US exporters; and to energize India’s efforts to tackle climate change.

Indonesia’s flagship forest policy—a moratorium on new licenses to log or clear rainforests that started in 2011—has lowered the country’s greenhouse gas emissions from deforestation by an estimated 1.0-2.5 percent over four years. But unless the moratorium policy is significantly strengthened Indonesia is poised to fall far short of its national climate target of a 26-41 percent reduction in emissions by 2020.